US Vice President J.D. Vance does not believe Moscow is obstructing a potential peace agreement in Ukraine, as Russia has made "significant concessions" to President Donald Trump. He also says there will be no US troops in Ukraine if peace is reached.
In an interview with NBC News, Vance said the Russians have "made significant concessions for the first time in three and a half years." This reportedly occurred when Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met earlier this month in Alaska. "They are willing to be flexible on some of their key demands," Vance said.
He said, among other things, that Moscow has recognized "that Ukraine will have territorial integrity after the war" and that it "cannot install a puppet government in Kyiv." "Have they made all the concessions? Of course not. But we are making progress," he added.
Claiming regions
Reuters reported Thursday, citing three Russian sources close to the Kremlin, that Moscow is prepared to freeze the front line in Zaporizhia and Kherson. These are regions the country claimed in June 2024. The Russians are also reportedly willing to withdraw from the Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnepropetrovsk.
But Moscow is reportedly sticking to its demands that Ukraine relinquish the eastern Donbas region, abandon its ambition to join NATO, and keep Western troops out of the country. Russia is also reportedly unwilling to return the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014.
Vance said today that Washington wants to offer Ukraine security guarantees, but he emphasized: "There will be no American troops in Ukraine."
'Troops important'
That is precisely what is important for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that he hopes the country will receive security guarantees from the United States and other Western allies if a deal is reached with Russia. Having troops present in the country, "or as they say, 'boots on the ground,' is important to us," Zelensky said.
US envoy Keith Kellogg is currently in Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said during a meeting with him today in Kyiv that she had discussed security guarantees. "This is not just about military guarantees, but also about political stability and economic strength," she wrote on social media.